Boomerangs
by Mosie1213
Summary: Boomerangs...you know those little Lshaped frisbees you throw out into the world that always come back? I hold onto mine every year, every Valentine's Day and remember when mine came back to me...BRUCAS ONESHOT song credit: Martina McBride


**_Finally, it's here...the oneshot I've been talking about for three days. I hope you guys enjoy this. I have to be honest, this one is my favorite over Shoebox. I tugged at my heart and all my love and hope for brucas to write this one. So please do me a favor and review with whatever opinion you have. Thanks! (and for those of you anxiously waiting for a review on What Life is This, now that this oneshot is finished, i can get back to concentrating on that. I am entering this in the Valentine's Day Fic Challenge at Harder to Breathe, so please let me know what you think!!! thanks_**

**Boomerangs**

Boomerangs…you know, those little L-shaped Frisbees that you throw out into the world that always come back? No matter which way you throw them, they always come back to where they started. I really love boomerangs, especially when they find their way back, I hold onto my boomerang every year on this day, my favorite day, and I remember when it found its way back to me…

_I woke up early, excited for the day. Well, actually, I was excited to have Nathan and Haley coming to stay with me for the weekend, but I wasn't too thrilled to be spending another Valentine's Day alone. I mean I knew I wouldn't be alone _all _day. I would hang out with them after I picked them up from the airport, but then, with it being the romantic Hallmark holiday it was, they would want to be alone together. And I didn't mind that…they were so sweet together. I had just wished I had that sweetness too, like I used to have with Lucas._

_I never stopped pining after Lucas, even though he was with someone else, more specifically, my ex best friend Peyton. True, I had been the one to end things with him and I had pushed him and Peyton together, but it didn't change the fact that I still loved him. And I had only pushed him away because I had wanted him to fight for me, to prove he loved me like he claimed he did. Selfish, right? Probably, but…people do crazy things for love, as I did for him. And as Peyton once told me, you can't help who you love._

_So anyway…I woke up, took a shower and left to meet Nathan and Haley at the airport. I had been so anxious waiting for them because I'd been looking forward to them coming to visit for a month. When I made eye contact with them, I smiled and squealed as I ran to them. I reached Haley first and squeezed her in a tight embrace._

"_Oh my god, Haley!" You have no idea how much I've missed you!"_

"_I've missed you too, Brooke," Haley said, still in our hug. "So much."_

_We pulled away from each other and I smiled as Nathan approached, holding their little boy, Keith Alan Scott, in his arms. I hugged Nathan and told him how much I'd missed him too. Then I smiled and reached out for my Godson._

"_Hey there, cutie," I said as I took the dark haired, blue eyed, 16 month old in my arms. "My, my, you sure have gotten big."_

"_He's a growing boy," Nathan said as he and Haley stood together hand in hand._

"_And ridiculously handsome," I said, still smiling at baby Keith as I rocked him._

"_Just like his daddy," Haley said before she and her husband kissed._

_I had watched them with a smile. But then I thought of Lucas again, wishing he were here too, just so I could at least see him again. I hadn't seen him since the last time I was in Tree Hill, visiting Nathan and Haley in the hospital when Keith was born. I quickly pushed Lucas out of my mind (only for the time being, of course; my thoughts would return later when I was alone and wishing for him again) and I helped my friends find their luggage._

_We went to lunch after the airport. I took them to my favorite place in all of New York City, a cute little café down the street from my apartment building. Besides Karen's, it was the most wonderful café I'd ever been too. I loved to sit there and just look at all the people I saw come in there to just read or write. Like most things did, them and the café reminded me of Lucas. I went to that café whenever I was lonely and wasn't busy with school or work. It was my favorite place to be in New York because when I was there, I sometimes felt like I was with Lucas too._

_We had a nice lunch, Nathan, Haley and me. I told them how surprisingly well I was doing in school and also how much I was enjoying work at the little clothing boutique I'd gotten a job at when I moved here. Then, they told me how life was for them, Nathan and basketball and Haley with school, half way through earning her bachelor's degree in education. Their favorite thing to tell me had been about how Keith was walking already and could already say 'momma' and 'dada'. I thought it was cute. _

_For my sake, I'm sure, they'd both managed to keep the conversation off of Lucas. I was thankful to them for that. But at the same time, I was a little disappointed because a part of me did want to talk about him, to hear how he was. A part of me wanted to hear that he was aching as much as I was._

_But I didn't ask about him. There was still that part of me that didn't want to hear about his life…with Peyton. I don't want to hear how happy he probably was by this point. I mean he seemed happy with her when I saw him almost a year and a half ago, but I didn't want anyone to tell me he was. I had still liked to think that, even though he was with Peyton, he still, on occasion, thought about me._

_After lunch, I showed Nathan and Haley around the city a little bit. Haley had been to New York before when she was singing on tour, but she had never really had the time to see the city. And Nathan hadn't seen the city before either, so I was more than happy to show them my favorite places, like my school, the café, and of course, Central Park, my second favorite place to go in New York City._

_Keith had started getting fussy about an hour after lunch, so we headed back to my apartment. Haley put the baby down for a nap and Nathan decided to take a nap too before he and Haley went out later alone for dinner. While the boys napped, Haley and I had time to catch up a little more. I should've known better then to have let Nathan leave me alone with her._

"_So what's going on with you, Brooke?" She'd asked as I handed her a glass of Diet Coke._

"_What are you talking about?" I returned a smile as I climbed onto a stool next to her at the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. "I already told you everything going on with me."_

"_No, not everything. You told me about school and work and your friends here, but you didn't tell me everything."_

"_What else is there?" I asked innocently, though I knew exactly what she wanted from me._

"_Come on, Brooke," she pressed. "You know what I mean. How's the dating game? You know, your life? Are you seeing anyone?"_

_I didn't answer right away, and I think she saw right through my hesitation when I did finally answer. "I don't really have any time for dating right now."_

"_Brooke Davis has no time for dating? I don't buy it." She smiled at me and we were quiet for a minute. I looked away, but I could tell she was still staring at me._

"_You still love him, don't you?" She asked with both sympathy and worry. "What? No…" I answered almost as quickly as she'd asked. "I told you, I just don't have time for guys right now. My lack of a love life has absolutely nothing to do with…"_

"_Lucas?"_

_I sighed and gave her sort of an annoyed look. "Haley…"_

"_I'm sorry." She threw up her hands. "I'm not trying to bring back memories for you or push you back to him, but I just had to ask. You're my best friend, more like a sister. I just want you to be happy."_

"_I am happy, Haley, or at least I will be. I'll be happy when I'm finished with school and I finally get to open the clothing store I've dreamt of owning. I don't need a man to make me happy."_

"_I know you don't, but what about love? You need love. Don't you want to fall in love and share your happiness with someone who loves you?"_

"_I will, Haley…someday. But I need a break from trying to find it right now. I already fell in love once, twice actually, with the same guy if you remember. And both times I was hurt in the fall out, and I'm not ready to try again right now. Because you're right, Haley…I am still in love with him, but he's with Peyton now."_

"_But, Brooke, he—"_

"_No, Haley, just let me finish okay?" She sighed and let me go on. "I am still trying to get over him, and I'm doing it differently than I've tried before, in a more healthier way. I'm focusing on me instead of guys. I'm finishing school and working towards my career."_

"_But…"_

"_Hales…" I put my hands on hers. "I love you and I appreciate you caring and wanting me to find love like you did, but it can't happen as fast for everyone like it did for you and Nathan. I wish it could, but it can't…not for me anyway."_

_We both smiled and then I finished my train of thought. "I think that I need to stop looking for love in order to find it. Love for me is like a boomerang. I throw my heart out there for someone to catch and keep and protect, but I always find myself in the same place, trying to mend my heart returned to me in a million pieces. So I think I need to stop looking and hoping and just wait for love and the right guy to come and find me. Does any of this make sense?"_

_We both were in tears by that point, but Haley smiled and nodded her head. Then, she hugged me and promised to stop pushing me to start dating again as long as I promised to tell her the moment I did meet someone. I laughed and agreed._

_We went on for the next couple of hours to talk about other things happening in New York and in Tree Hill, though keeping the conversation far away from Lucas. I showed her some of my new sketches for my **Clothes Over Bros** line, something else in my life inspired by Lucas. I also showed her the sketches I had started for my newest line, **Two Hearts**_, _a line of clothing for newborns and infants. _

_When Nathan and little Keith woke from their nap, he and Haley got cleaned up and dressed to go out. They went out for dinner, dancing and a movie while I stayed home with baby Keith. I was glad to have him keep me company for the night. But after a couple hours of me playing with him and after his bottle, little Keith crashed again for the night, and I was, once again, alone on Valentine's Day. I couldn't think of anything to do but what I had done the previous year._

_I put Keith down in the playpen in the spare bedroom before going next door to my room. I pulled the plastic box out from the back of my closet and brought it to the living room. I dimmed the lights and lit all the candles I owned, in the living room and the kitchen, before I finally sat down in the middle of the carpeted living room floor with the box._

_The CD was the first thing I saw when I removed the lid. I put the CD he'd made and titled **Brucas Forever **on our first Valentine's together into my stereo underneath the television in the entertainment unit. I played the first track and listened to our song._

_**If there were no words**_

_**No way to speak**_

_**I would still love you**_

_**If there were no tears **_

_**No way to feel inside**_

_**I'd still feel you**_

_I let the tears escape my eyes as I rummaged through the box. I found letters he'd written to me when we were together, and the little love notes we'd passed in school. I'd kept ever mix tape he'd ever made me, and every piece of jewelry he'd ever bought me. All those things I'd kept stashed away in the box to always remember my love for him._

_**And even if the sun refused to shine**_

_**Even if romance ran out of rhyme **_

_**You would still have my heart**_

_**Until the end of time**_

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_Everything inside that box brought back another memory of him. But what really brought me to heavy tears was the gray Keith Scott Body Shop hoodie folded neatly at the very bottom of the box._

_**All of my life**_

_**I have been waiting for**_

_**All you give to me**_

_**You've opened my eyes**_

_**And showed me how to love unselfishly**_

_I'd held the sweatshirt up to my face and hugged it close. I buried my face in it. It still smelled like him, even after the two years since he'd given up on my stealing it and finally given it to me. As I cried into it silently, I felt like he was with me again, if only in my dreams._

_**I've dreamed of this a thousand times before**_

_**And in my dreams I couldn't love you more**_

_**I will give you my heart until the end of time**_

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_I'd kept the sweatshirt in my lap as I pulled the photo album from the box._

_**La da da**_

_**Da da da da**_

_I leaned back against the couch with the sweatshirt and I began flipping through the album._

_**And even if the sun refused to shine**_

_**Even if romance ran out of rhyme **_

_**You would still have my heart **_

_**Until the end of time**_

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_I kept every picture of us together in that album. Pictures from our first date, from basketball games and times outside of school too. My favorites were the ones we took in the photo booth at the mall, and the ones of us at Naley's vow renewal. We'd been so happy._

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_I'd needed him so badly back then, and part of me still did. But it was way too late. I knew that. He was with Peyton, moving on with his life. And I had really tried to do the same thing, but…like a boomerang, I still found myself in the same place every year…hugging his sweatshirt close to me, missing him terribly and regretting ever letting him go._

_My wallowing that night was interrupted by a knock on the door. I glanced at the door and wondered who it might be. Everyone I knew were out on romantic dates with their significant others. But I paused the CD as the chorus from "Harder to Breath" by Maroon5 started, and I stood up and headed toward the door. I wiped the tears from my face and check that my make up hadn't smeared too horribly in the mirror near the door. I grabbed the knob as I sniffled and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was on the outside._

"_Lucas…" I was almost speechless, or thought I was dreaming, but I managed to stammer out what I was thinking as I stared at him blankly. "Wh-what are you doing here?"_

_He flashed me that amazing smile I'd always loved so much and those beautiful blue eyes sparkled. _

"_I wanted to see you," he'd said._

_I could tell from his voice that he was nervous, unsure of what he should say._

"_Why?" I asked, nervous too. What was he doing outside my apartment? I didn't want to see him, not when I couldn't have him. It hurt too much to see him and not be able to kiss him and hold him as I had wanted to at that moment._

"_Because I…miss you."_

_My heart skipped a beat at those words. **He missed me. **But I was confused as hell too. He missed me? What about Peyton?_

"_Why?" I asked again._

_He flashed that damn smile again. "I figured this wouldn't be easy, but um…I need to tell you anyway before I chicken out again."_

"_Tell me what?" I didn't really want to know though. The questions were just coming out due to the shock of seeing him. I was afraid to hear what he wanted to tell me. My heart wouldn't have been able to handle it if he'd told me he and Peyton had gotten engaged, married, pregnant or something._

_But I let him inside anyway and we sat down where Haley and I had sat earlier._

"_So what are you doing here?" I asked again. "What do you want to tell me?"_

"_I made a mistake, Brooke…with Peyton."_

_I feared the worst when he'd said that. Had he gotten Peyton pregnant?_

"_I thought Peyton was the one that I wanted to be with. I have a history with her that will always be there, and I connected with her so easily that I convinced myself that that meant she was the one I was supposed to be with. I told myself that she was the one I wanted next to me because of that, even though I'd always known you were the one I wanted…and I still do."_

_He paused and stared at me, probably waiting for a reaction from me, but I didn't give him any, I wasn't going to let my guard down that easily again. But the more he talked, the more I wanted too._

"_I don't know what made me forget about us, about the way I feel about you. It was beyond stupid and I regret it everyday. I hurt you again after promising you so many times that I wouldn't. But I still love you, Brooke. I never stopped loving you."_

_He moved his hand toward my face, but I stopped him with my own. I couldn't let him touch in that warm way he always did, or I would sure break. Plus, he wasn't mine anymore._

"_Lucas…you're with Peyton."_

"_Actually…we're not together anymore," he said as he withdrew his hand. "We haven't been for a little over a year now. I couldn't be with her anymore when I was still in love with you."_

_I could tell he was still nervous by the way he swallowed again._

"_The idiot I am didn't realize what I had until I didn't have it anymore. I really did miss you when you moved here after graduation, Brooke. I just didn't realize how much until I saw you again when you came home to be there for Haley when she had the baby. I was overjoyed to see you then, and heartbroken to see you leave again._

"_I stayed with Peyton for a few weeks after you left, thinking that maybe everything I'd felt when you were here was the same I'd feel for any of my friends who came back after being away. But I came to realize I was wrong, that my feelings weren't just of missing you, but of loving you too."_

_I didn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't believe he was still in love with me. I wanted to believe it, I really did, but I'd heard it all before. Plus, he'd said he'd broken things off with Peyton and figured all this out a year ago. So what had he been doing all that time?_

_He stood up from the stool to pace, and I glanced nervously at the box still sitting in the living room and I prayed he wouldn't look over and see it. I didn't want him to know I'd been crying over him. Thankfully, though, he didn't look that way. He just kept talking._

"_There've been so many times over the past year when I've wanted to call you and visit you and tell you everything I'm telling you now, but whenever it came right down to it, I would chicken out like I almost did this time. But then Haley kept pushing me to just do it…take a chance and fly out here and finally tell you how I feel because I would regret losing you even more if I didn't."_

"_Wait, you flew out here with them?" I asked, not remembering seeing him at the airport. And trust me…I would've remembered._

"_No, I took a later flight to give myself some time to figure out exactly what I was going to say to you. I never figured it out, but here I am anyway, straight from the airport."_

_He moved closer to me, but I didn't pull back this time._

"_I know I hurt you two too many times, but both those times I never stopped loving you, even though it seemed that I had. I made mistakes that I wish I could take back, but I can't. All I can do is tell you how much I love you and promise that that I will never ever hurt you like that again. And I know I've broken that promise before, but I'm hoping you might forgive me anyway, even though I definitely don't deserve it."_

_He took my hand and again, I didn't refuse._

"_You are the one I belong with, Brooke. It took me a long time to remember that, but I have and I can't ever forget that. I can't forget you or us. I can't forget how much I love you because I'm never going to stop loving you. No matter who I was with, my heart was always with you. And it always will be…until the end of time."_

_**I will give you my heart until the end of time**_

_Martina McBride's words played in my mind again as I fell even more in love with him and his confession._

_**I've dreamed of this a thousand times before**_

_**And in my dreams I couldn't love you more**_

"_You're the one I see in my future, Brooke, the only one. You're the only one I want to be with, from now until forever. I want you to be the one standing next to me when all my dreams come true, just like I always imagined it would be. You are the one I want to spend every Valentine's Day with. You're the one I want to wake up next to in the mornings and the one I have babies with."_

_Slowly, he leaned in and kissed me. I'd given in to the kiss, even though I'd known I shouldn't have. But it was exactly what I'd wanted and everything I'd needed._

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_But I pulled away almost as quickly as I'd given in._

"_I can't, Lucas," I said in tears. "I can't do this, not again."_

_He was hurt, but he must've understood where I was coming from because he hadn't argued._

"_Okay," he'd said as he backed away. "I knew it was a lot to ask for, and I knew it was probably too late, but I, um…I had to try right."_

_I could see the pain in his eyes and I felt bad for hurting him, but what could I do? Risk my heart again? Allow myself t be vulnerable again? I couldn't…I couldn't let myself get hurt again._

"_I'm um…I'm sorry I bothered you." He started toward the door and I watched him. I could tell his eyes darted toward that box in the living room as he turned the doorknob._

_Tears kept rolling down my cheeks as I watched him go. And my thoughts and emotions ran rampant. I did still love him. I did forgive him, as much as he'd hurt me. And I did want him back. So why was I letting him go again?_

_I quickly leapt from the stool and rant to the door._

"_Lucas…" I said as I threw open the door._

_He should've been halfway down the hallway by that point, but he wasn't. He was standing only a few feet from the door and I realized that when I nearly ran into him on my mad dash to stop him from leaving._

"_I was hoping you might come after me," he said._

"_I'm sorry…" I cried with my hands pulling on the sleeves of his jacket. "I was wrong. I love you, Lucas. I love you so much. Please don't go…don't leave me again."_

_I pulled him into a tight embrace and he ran his hand over my head. _

"_I won't," he said. "Ill never leave you again."_

_Finally, we'd kissed…a kiss I'd been waiting for for what felt like a lifetime._

_**And even if the sun refused to shine**_

_**Even if romance ran out of rhyme**_

_**You would still have my heart**_

_**Until the end of time**_

_**You're all I need**_

_**My love, my valentine**_

_And he was all I needed…for the rest of my life._

"_Does this mean you forgive me?" He asked me when we both pulled away._

_I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I already forgave you, Lucas. I've just been waiting for you to forgive me."_

"_Forgive you for what?"_

"_For letting you go."_

_He smiled and kissed me again, telling me that he had forgiven me. I returned the smile after._

"_I have something for you." He pushed a strand of my dark hair out of my face._

"_You do? What?"_

"_A Valentine's present."_

"_Well, I already got what I wanted." I smiled again. "But you know I love presents."_

_He laughed and began toward the door. He bent down next to the door and picked up a medium sized gift bag. We went back inside and he handed the bag to me. I peeked inside and smiled, as I pulled out a red boomerang with **FOREVER **spelled out in black letters._

"_A boomerang…" I whispered with a smile, surprised, but also happy he'd gotten me the perfect present._

"_It's a symbol," he began. "Of us. Every time we've been together and been apart, we've somehow always found our way back to each other, no matter what. There were always obstacles standing in our way, but…like a boomerang does when you throw it out into the world, we found our way back. And that's how it will always be."_

_My eyes teared again, but because I was happy, not sad, as they had been before he'd showed up. I embraced in a tight hug and I knew then that I never had to be sad again. He'd come back to me. He was mine forever._

Boomerangs…you cast them out to the world and they always find their way back. It's the best present I've ever gotten. I hold onto mine every year, every Valentine's Day and I remember that day Lucas found his way back to me. We haven't been apart since.

"Good morning, gorgeous."

I look up when he enters the bedroom of our home, the home we bought together when I moved back to Tree Hill after college to open my store, **_Brucas4Ever,_** which has turned out to be quite a success.

"Hey handsome," I say to him, sliding the boomerang I'd been staring at all morning back on my nightstand as he climbs back into bed with me.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he says as he leans in to kiss me.

"Yes…it sure is. And Happy Anniversary."

Again, he smiles and we kiss.

"So, how're you feeling?" Lucas lays his hand on my pregnant stomach.

I smiled and lay my hands over his. "Wonderful…absolutely wonderful."

And I am wonderful…_we _are wonderful. We've been back together for six years and married for five. And we are thrilled to be expecting twins, who will be arriving in May, only a few months from now. Yep…in just a few months we will finally be adding to the family both of us have always dreamt of having.

"I have a present for you, Pretty Girl."

"Oh, I love presents." I squeak as he leans over his side of the bed.

He brings up a small gift bag, similar but smaller to the one he gave me six years ago.

"It's actually kind of a present for the twins, but it will mean more to you."

I smile, as I pull out two mini boomerangs, blue and pink. Like on my own boomerang, black letters are glued to each little boomerang, spelling out our children's names. On the blue, **AIDAN **is spelled out, and **FAITH **on the pink.

"Oh Lucas, they're adorable."

"One day, when they're older, I plan to tell our children the story of how we fell in love…and how we lost each other and then found each other again. And I'm going to tell them all about how boomerangs work the same way. And I thought it would be nice to give them these someday as a symbol of how much their mom and dad love them and each other."

"It's a great idea, Lucas. Thank you."

I kiss him again before we're interrupted by the little kicks from Aidan and Faith. Lucas and I both laugh and struggle together in bed, so happy to be together and getting happier every moment we are together.

It's been said that of you love something you set it free. And if it comes back, it's yours forever. I totally believe that. I always have and I always will. I set Lucas free way back when, and he came back to me. He's mine forever now.

Lucas and I will never be apart again. I am completely sure of that. But even if something were to split us up again, we'd never stay that way. Because we would always find our way back to the place we were when we left each other…just like boomerangs.


End file.
